2 point what?

Wikis...sounds like something out of Star Wars.

2008-03-16T21:17:00.000-07:00

Wikis...not wookiees.

Having known about wikipedia, I had a fair idea what wikis might be. After watching the clip on wikis I feel that they are a useful tool and one that could be utilised in many work places or in your personal life. Reading a comment on the nsw learning page, I can see that it would definately be a good idea to use a wiki to co-ordinate events between branches of the library. No more emails that people don't get...what a great thing that would be.

Oh...wow. They actually have something called 'wookieepedia'. I just found it while looking at 3 of the suggested wiki links. It is very in depth and obviously is well designed.

I tried out the wiki that was set up for this course and my gosh, it was so easy! A big eye opener though...how easy is it for people to give out false information?

Well, my time is just about up for this week. Time flies when you are learning, doesn't it? I think I am going to have to investigate these wikis more...

And just in case any of you were disappointed because you thought I wasn't going to post a picture of a puppy...

Until next time.

RSS...well there you go!

2008-03-04T18:55:00.000-08:00

I had NO IDEA that RSS existed. It's not something I have ever stumbled across, nor has anyone ever spoken to me about it (you know how you are talking to someone and they say something which they assume you know and you smile and nod.. only you are secretly storing the info so you can go google it later? Yeah, never had that with RSS.)

So, this week I settled down into the chair in front of Public Compuer B, popped my headphones on and prepared to learn about RSS. I created a gmail account (yay, they finally decided I wasn't going to use them for spam!) and then signed up to bloglines. I'm still figuring out how it all works but so far I'm getting the basic idea.

I think that RSS could be beneficial to libraries in general, but I think there would definately need to be a specific purpose for this tool. It would be too overwhelming to try and use it for all library puroposes. I think that it would be a great tool for finding out about new books (NYT Book Review link) or maybe in relation to the childrens and youth services.

Someone said in one of their comments on the homepage for public libraries learning 2 that they feel that libraries would benefit through advertising events using RSS. I am in two minds about this comment. Yes, it would be useful if people knew about RSS and knew how to use it...and if our library updated information regularly. As it is, our library website seems hard enough to navigate for the public and there are only certain staff members who can access it to change information. We would need to dedicate time to RSS, something a lot of library staff do not have.

Anyway, I know I'm harping on a little here. I'm sure if used properly this RSS tool would be great for libraries, but sometimes we have to live with the fact that what we think would be great isn't necessarily what management thinks is great.

So, as always, I have included a picture of a dog to brighten this blog up. At least I know there is someone out there (Kathleen A) who enjoyed my dog pictures in my last post.

Bye!

If you don't want people to see it, don't put it on the net.

2008-02-25T15:54:00.001-08:00

So setting up the blog was done last week and this week I looked at flickr. I have seen these sites before and have been a member of photobucket (though I can never remember my sign in details!)

Personally, I don't really rely on the web for backing up my photos. Yes, it is good to have them on there so you can show people no matter where you are, and if something happens to your computer then I guess you're set there...but I wouldn't have it as my only source of backup. What happens if someone hacks it? I know that there are plenty of people out there who know how to get into such systems and could easily delete all your items. Plus, having them on the interenet, public or private, means the file is out there. If you don't want other people to see it, then don't put it on the net!

So here are my images I found on flickr. I looked up 'funny dogs' and got these as results. I could have spent hours looking through them all, but chose a few really cute ones for your viewing pleasure.

I like to call this 'Fat Dog'.

What the?

I thought this one was just hilarious. I like the movement in it.

All I can say for this one is "Go little dog!"

Hopefully I will get my own flickr pics working. I don't have any I want to upload, but I might try and put some on here that are more 'me' related. (I'm not that obsessed with dogs...I just think they are cute.)

Bye.

Week 1: what?

2008-02-21T14:30:00.000-08:00

"2 point what?"

I believe they were the words I said when I read the fact sheet that made its way into my pigeon hole at work this week. As it turns out, I already use a lot of the features associated with the idea.

Watching the clips of Stephen Fry discussing the concept was very useful in explaining what web 2.0 is. The comment he made about being able to both upload AND download was of particular interest to me, as it occured to me that it is a unique opportunity. As we have learned from history, people like having their say and tools such as blogs and MySpace accounts have helped them greatly in their contribution to 'news'.

However, with great power comes great responsibility. How do we know that information obtained through these sites is correct? We can't, and I guess that is the down side of this exciting system...

...that and sometimes it doesn't do what you want it to do :)

Speaking of which, I don't know if anyone else had trouble with making a gmail account. I decided to give it a go and after I had finished filling in the forms, a message came up saying Gmail would not allow me to create the account as too many had already been made from this location and they thought I would be using it for SPAM!

But, I figured out a way around it and here I am, blogging as required.

(Oh, and I just felt like adding a picture to the post...it has no significance to the topic, I just thought it was a cute picture.)

Bye.